Biggie Sized Truck Flips at WendyÃ¢â?¬â?¢s

Take out order gone wrong? This morning, it looked like a crane truck had flipped over after ordering a Biggie Sized burger meal at the Wendy’s drive-thru on Preston Avenue. There it was on its side between the order kiosk and the take-out window.

However, according to Captain Mike Johnson of the Charlottesville Fire Department, it wasn’t hunger but tricky sign work that caused the morning accident.

The Atlantic Coast Sign & Electric crane truck was there to replace a Wendy’s sign on the side of the building. As the crane operator tried to pick up the new sign off a platform on the passenger side of the truck, the weight of the sign was enough to flip the truck on its side. The crane arm came crashing down, shattering a streetlight and tossing its bucket on the sidewalk along Preston. Fortunately, no one was hurt in the accident. There was no one in the cab of the truck, the crane operator managed to get out of the way, the falling crane and bucket didn’t reach the road, and no one was on a morning stroll or run down Preston.

“It’s going to be time consuming getting this truck upright,” said Johnson, who says three of his engines happened to be in the area when the accident happened. “We’re trying to stabilize things before the wrecker guys go to work.” In addition to stabilizing the truck itself, Johnson was concerned about leaking fuel and two compressed air containers at precarious angles. Indeed, getting the truck back on four wheels is going to present a challenge. Fireman and the wrecker drivers have to figure out a way to flip it over and reposition the crane at the same time. “We’ll probably be here until late afternoon trying to deal with this,” said Johnson.